Left Lane's Lament

Well, this weekend's weather forecast is sure looking a lot better than last weekend! According to our own Left Lane, as you'll read in a minute, the cold temps drove everyone indoors and on the sofas for some Reverse Aerobics. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, it is defined by a face down semi comatose state with a diet of much fat laden foods like donuts. If you google the definition you find a photo of "you know who" all laid out in his recliner with a chocolate glaze residue down the front of his little shirt. It's a picture of the opposite of fitness!) I'm sure many of you did not partake in the Reverse Aerobics ritual, but I think more did than would admit it.

So, here is poor Left Lane, showing up for yet another ride on a chilly morning. (The boy is a trooper.) He is lamenting the fact that he is the only one brave (crazy) enough to ride in the cold. Hang in there Left Lane, the Holiday Riding Schedule as well as warmer temps are just around the corner...Crusher and Vortex return too! And wait until you see Crusher's new custom machine! Giddy up...

Here is Left Lane's report in his own words:

Well let me see if I can list all the riders on this Saturday’s ride. There was ahhhhh… Oh yeah, Happy Harlan, The Left Lane andddddddd……..wait a minute, that’s it. I guess the prognostications of bad/cold weather scared everyone else off. As I was getting my full diaper suit on and about to head out the door to ride down to Fish & Wildlife I got a call from Bad Mayonaisse saying he and Retro had decided to wait another hour or so to go for their ride. I was suited up though and ready to go and did not want to wait any longer. Plus I have been riding in the mornings before work down to 35 degree weather so this morning seemed absolutely BALMY to me.

Got down to F&W and only Happy was there waiting. We waited around 10 minutes for any stragglers ..with none showing so the two oldest (in the absence of a certain Sugar Coated doughnut eating CCC) and heartiest riders in the peloton headed out. As we waited we had considered routes other than the Soundside Loop which would have had us riding back over the bridge into a serious headwind. We quickly came up with an alternative and did a Reverse Manzier Loop out 12^th Avenue then Davis over the viaduct etc out to old Palafox. At this point we figured a route to basically do the Pine Forrest Loop eventually coming back on Johnson Avenue.

Once we got going and got warmed up the weather was windy but really not bad at all. Happy and I traded off the pulls in the 2 man mode and had a fantastic ride. No noodling here. The 2 man mode really gives you a great workout. We ended with around 33 miles by the time we finished at Maygarden and Summit at an average speed of around 17.4 which was pretty sporty considering the conditions. As for Braggin Rites for the week…as Harlan was doing the last pull up through the Ess Turn after the Air Terminal the Left Lane pulled up alongside him trying to have a Team LeMans style finish (A Tie!!). But I guess boys will be boys and Happy stepped on it as we got around 150 yards from the finish line…Left Lane stepped on it in response and barely edged out the Harlinator in a photo finish!!!

We said our goodbyes as Harlan headed up Spanish Trail and I toward Scenic Highway. As luck would have it the best tailwind express of the day pushed me home down Scenic Highway clipping along in the 23-27 mph range. What a great way to end the ride.

I am still kind of surprised at the lack of turnout. Heck we have been riding in much worse wind/weather conditions over the past couple of months. Come ON everyone…basically only one chance to ride as a group each week!!! OK I will get off my SoapBox for now.

We did have some citings during our ride. As Happy and I were crossing 9mile road at Chemstrand a contingent of cyclists around 10-12 strong passed by. Also as I was heading down Summit to Scenic on the way home I passed by Randy Riche out on his morning run. Haven’t had Randy in the peloton for a while…must be training for some big marathon or something.

Until next time,

The Left Lane

Don't fret El Left Lane, (uh...that's Spanish for those of you less fortunate than my bilingual self), I'm sure with this warming trend, there will be a huge peloton this Saturday for the group fave Pine Forest Loop! This 45 miler has one rest stop at either the Raceway or Starbucks depending on how the group is feeling. We start at 8am from Firestone and Summit. The pace will be moderate so come on out and enjoy a ride on the Firestone and Summit Express! (FASE) Dadgum acronyms, I just can't get them out of my head!

See you out on the road, (Oh yeah baby, I'm back! Crusher too!)
Bob